Mission USA- The Bridge

If someone was thirsty you’d likely give them something to drink. Perhaps if they were hungry you’d also offer them a snack if not a full meal, especially if you’d gotten to truly know them.

If it was raining out as it has been off and on in Chicago the past couple of days, you may loan them a windbreaker or jacket. Maybe you’d even give them one to keep.

If you knew them well enough and they were all of a sudden homeless you -might- take them in, at least temporarily.

And if someone, especially in your family or a close friend got very ill and ended up in hospital you’d likely visit them, at least once and perhaps more.

If… only IF you knew and loved them well and they landed in jail or were handed a prison term you might visit them. Perhaps.

Relationship and not mere theory, is the bottom line. Before anything else. Relationship and community is certainly the best incubator and prime launchpad for love I’ve ever known.

Through meetings and authentic, bridging relational ministry Mission USA slices most of the corners off of “perhaps”. The message at The Bridge is WE’RE HERE AND YOU’RE WELCOME… ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE COMING OUT OF PRISON OR ON THE STREET AND A LIKELY CANDIDATE FOR JAIL OR PRISON. YOU NEED HELP? GOD AND THIS GROUP ARE HERE TO BRING IT.

I’ve been blessed to share in ministry with their staff here in Chicago for several years now and have been regularly encouraged by their constant and fruitful outreach to those I call “the least of the least of these” (see Matthew chapter 25 -prison is the last of six things Jesus mentions regarding judgment and love).